Many products for sale to the public are placed in a primary package that is designed for display at the point of sale. Common practice is to place a quantity of the primary packages in a secondary container for shipping. The retailer must then remove the primary packages from the secondary container and hang them from a hook or place them in another container or on a shelf for display. One common practice is to remove the primary packages from the shipping container and place them on a costly permanent plastic or metal display fixture with spring loaded attachments. This solution is labor intensive and costly to the retailer.
To solve this problem, packages have been designed that are used for both shipping the primary packages and then displaying them at the point of sale. These packages are especially convenient for the retailer, since it is not necessary for the retailer to remove the articles from a bulk shipping container.
One conventional container known to applicant suitable for both shipping articles and then displaying them with maximum visual exposure at a point of sale comprises a tray having a smooth bottom wall and relatively narrow upstanding side walls. The articles are supported on the bottom wall and preferably extend above the side walls. For shipping, a cover is placed over the tray loaded with items or the loaded tray is placed in an outer shipping container to form a shipping package. When the shipping package reaches its destination the tray loaded with items is removed from the shipping container and placed on a shelf or other surface for display and sale of the items supported in the tray.
A commonly used primary package comprises a blister pack or clamshell package wherein the article is placed on a sheet of cardboard or plastic and then covered by a plastic sheet or bubble that is sealed around the edges to the sheet. These packages are collectively referred to hereinafter as blister packs, but it should be understood that this terminology is intended to cover any generally flat package having at least one substantially straight projecting marginal edge. A plurality of blister packs are placed in upright position in these trays. However, because of their shape and the location of their center of gravity, most blister packs tend to fall over or slide forward at their bottom edge and are therefore no longer supported in an upright position when some of the articles are removed by consumers from the front of the tray. Consequently, for blister packs to be properly displayed in a shallow tray, it is necessary to provide a support structure to hold the blister packs in an upright position even when some of the blister packs are removed from the front of the tray.
One prior art system that has been proposed utilizes a separate insert positioned in the tray and having slots or protuberances that engage opposite side and/or bottom edges of the blister packs to hold them upright even after some blister packs have been removed from the tray. Other prior art systems comprise specially constructed and folded walls that extend into the interior of the tray and have slots for receiving edges of the blister packs to hold them upright. All of these prior art systems require either additional parts, such as inserts placed in the tray, or excess material to form the specially constructed and folded walls.
It would be advantageous to have a shipping and display container that supports and displays articles in an upright position for optimum visibility at a point of sale without the need for separate inserts or excess material, thereby minimizing the complexity and cost of such containers.